


Can I hug you?

by allhailthenerdmage



Series: The Mining Town Four [2]
Category: Everyman HYBRID, Slender Man Mythos
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fairmount Kids - Freeform, Mentions of Corenthal - Freeform, Once again Evan needs a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-31
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-04-16 11:34:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14163954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allhailthenerdmage/pseuds/allhailthenerdmage
Summary: Steph doesn't like when Evan is sad.





	Can I hug you?

**Author's Note:**

> Yet another prompt!

Steph loves Evan, he's the coolest brother ever and her pirate captain. Sure she loves Jeff and Vinny, but Evan is her favorite. He likes her drawings and shows her funny pictures of their brothers he takes when they aren't looking. 

But Evan has trouble sometimes, the doctor says they are ‘relapses’. Like when Vinny yells things from the bible or Jeff starts screaming nonsense.  He says they aren't bad, but they make Evan sad.

Steph doesn't like when Evan is sad. So she makes him drawings, of their ship, of Captain Habit, of anything that makes him smile. And Evan smiles when she shows him, she likes when he smiles. 

But sometimes the drawings aren't enough. Sometimes Evan hurts someone, he accidentally scratches Jeff, or pushes Vinny when he’s angry. When it happens he hides. It makes Steph, Vinny, and Jeff sad. Even the doctor and Mama seem upset when it happens, but no one really knows what to do. They just have to wait for him to come back out.

Steph tries though, she looks for him while the others are out playing and sits with him. He doesn’t really talk to her but Evan seems calmer when they are together. She likes to read to him, usually one of the books that Papa had bought for Jeff, but sometimes she makes up stories about their pirate ship and Evan’s first mates. Evan likes those the most.

It's dark when she looks for him this time, Papa had told her to go to bed hours ago. But she just couldn’t while Evan’s bed remained empty, it felt wrong. Vinny had covered for her and built a Steph-shaped pillow pile under her blankets while she snuck out and searched the house. 

She finds him in the attic, asleep against the window with his captain hat clutched in his arms. He had hurt Jeff this time, knocking him over while in a rage and leading to Jeff cutting his hand open on a rock. It hadn’t even been a bad cut, something easily fixed with a bandage and a kiss from Mama to curb Jeff’s tears. He wasn't even angry at Evan, only a little more wary of rocks and hills. But Evan had panicked and run into the house to hide before any of them could catch him. 

Steph looks down at her brother and contemplates her options, she could wake Evan up and risk him being scared or violent, or she could let him sleep and keep an eye on him. The latter would most likely make Mama and Papa worried and upset, but she chooses it nonetheless. Evan doesn’t like being woken up.

So she sits beside him and rests her head against the wall, leaning against Evan’s shoulder so he’ll know she’s there upon waking up. Though, it seems she misjudged his state of conscience as Evan stirs and looks down at her with a confused expression. She smiles and shrugs,

“Hey.”

“Wha-” Evan blinks a few times and seems to regain a bit of his brain function, “What time is it?”

“After bedtime,” Steph replies simply as he jumps a bit.

“Seriously?! Damn, I didn’t mean to be here that long.” She elbows him in the ribs gently,

“Language,” Evan rolls his eyes. “It's fine, Vinny is covering for me, we were worried about you. Usually Jeff can find you but this time he had no clue where you were.”

“Yeah,” He rubs the back of his neck nervously and clutches at his hat with the other hand. “How’s his hand?”

“Perfectly fine,” She knows her voice has a hint of annoyance in it but she can't help it, “He’s not even mad at you, Ev.”

“He should be.”

“Why? We get hurt playing all the time, do you not remember falling out of a tree a week ago?” Steph attempts a joke but Evan simply shakes his head, sighing.

“He’s always here for me and I keep hurting him,” He nudges her with his shoulder, “You guys too. You and Vin are too good to me, I don't deserve you.”

“Ev…” Steph sighs and puts a hand on his shoulder, “Can I hug you?” Evan gives a noncommittal shrug that she takes as a yes and pulls her brother into a bone-crushing hug. She can feel him shudder against her as he fights the tears she knows are coming and runs a hand through his hair. 

“You know we love you,” Steph murmurs against his neck, “Mama and Papa love you so much. You’re our captain, the ship goes down without you, and then where would we be?” Evan whimpers and tightens their hug. “None of us blame you for what you do when you’re angry, it’s not your fault. You have to stop blaming yourself.”

Hair tickles the back of her neck as Evan nods and pulls away, smiling at her through his tears. “What would we do without you, Stephanie?” 

“Lord knows,” She laughs quietly, “Now, off to bed with you. I know for a fact that Vinny and Jeff are waiting for you to come back before they sleep.”


End file.
